●Character Refresher
Frau: Daughter of Beezel. Diligently working as a civil servant.
Malbit: Chief of the angels.
Bell: Representative of the rcuries. Works in Village Four.
Yoru: One of the rcuries. Oversees the teleportation gate in the hot spring area.
Bulga: Ancient devil. Ca to Big Tree Village as Rasuti’s maid.
Stifano: Ancient devil. Ca to Big Tree Village as Rasuti’s maid.
Rananon: Daughter of Rasuti.
Kukulkan: Son of Rasuti.
Ice Monster: Ursa’s subordinate. Na is Ice.
-0-
I wanted to spend money at the auction, but things didn’t go as planned.
At this rate, I’ll only be able to spend about a hundred gold coins.
Most of that was entrusted to Prada.
What Prada is targeting aren’t the newly added items related to the nobles, but things that were prepared from the beginning.
…
Maybe it’s better to entrust even more to Prada.
Yes, that might be best.
Let’s do that.
-0-
「If we give Prada-san a generous budget, won’t she just buy everything at high prices?」
「She seems like the type to keep bidding until she wins no matter what」
「If she doesn’t back down, the price will just keep going up, right?」
That’s what the civil servant girls said.
I see.
Then, what should we do?
「Since we’re unsure about leaving it entirely to Prada-san, wouldn’t it be better to have her work with a team?」
「A teammate could step in and stop Prada-san if she starts going overboard」
「Areh? In that case… do we even need to put Prada-san on the team? Wouldn’t it be better to just leave it to the team and keep her out of it?」
「But Prada-san does have a good eye for artwork」
「True. Then the question is who she should team up with」
「If it’s soone who can actually stop her when needed…」
「Who would that be?」
-0-
Team Auction Acquisition Force has been ford!
Officially, the team leader is Prada.
She will decide which items to bid on.
Team mbers include Frau and Malbit from Big Tree Village, and Bell and Yoru from Village Four.
They will set the upper limit for bids and handle the actual auctioning.
Joining them as brakes for Prada are the ancient devils Bulga and Stifano.
Bulga and Stifano protested, saying ‘We had to take care of Rananon-sama and Kukulkan-sama desu yo’, but Rasuti ordered them to go as part of their vacation, so they gave in.
Sorry.
And as always, thank you.
「Well, it’s only for the duration of the auction, so we don’t mind. But if Prada gets serious, we won’t be able to stop her」
Is that so?
「Yes. If she’s not serious, we can manage sohow… But if she is, even the two of us together will have a hard ti. After all, Prada can hold her own against Gucci-sama」
I see.
Well, if things get really bad, it’s fine to just run away.
Just focus on stalling for ti.
「Are you sure that’s okay?」
Dors and the others said they’d be showing up too.
「…Dors-sama and the others?」
「…who else besides Dors-sama?」
Sounds like Raiiren is going too.
She’s bringing Hiichirou and Guraru.
「……」
「…W-we should definitely inform Prada about that in advance. Just telling her that will prevent a lot of trouble. And Beton will be on-site too, right? I guess she must be inford too.」
Since Stifano said so, I decided to pass on the ssage.
-0-
Since there were still a few days left until the auction, I spent them relaxing in the village.
It was sumr, and the ice monster was incredibly popular.
Naturally—he was cool.
Especially among the kuros, who constantly surrounded him.
The ice monster didn’t seem to mind at all.
His only real rival? The magic tools used to regulate room temperature.
Whenever he spotted one of those running, he’d silently walk over and turn it off with an unreadable expression.
Clearly declaring, ‘It’s my ti to shine’.
Well, no one really complained—as long as things stayed cool, it didn’t matter whether it was the ice monster or the magic tool doing the job.
Now that I think about it, Ursa hasn’t co to retrieve the ice monster.
Is that okay?
Just as I was pondering that, a group of oni maid and children approached.
「Ice-san, if you may.」
The oni maid held out a basket filled with fruit.
The ice monster took it and began to freeze the fruit, one by one.
「Thank you so much. That helps a lot.」
The oni maid bowed as she accepted the basket of now-frozen fruit and turned to go.
The children skipped along after her, clearly excited.
They were probably going to make frozen treats from the fruit.
Hmm… if Ursa does co to get him, I have a feeling the children might put up a fight.
-0-
One afternoon—
By the edge of the reservoir, the pond turtles were basking peacefully in the sun.
It was a picture of tranquility.
I set up a camping chair beside them, making sure not to get in their way.
With a parasol popped open, I made myself a nice, shaded spot.
Then I reclined the chair and sank into relaxation mode… when sothing settled down on my stomach.
What the—?
Turned out to be none other than the father cat, Raigiel.
It’s hot, you know. You don’t have to lie on right now.
Even if you tell to just deal with it…
Well, whatever. It’s fine.
The ice monster quietly made a pillar of ice near .
The cold air was refreshing.
Now, if only there were a bit of breeze to go with it…
No, no. If I wanted all that, I should’ve just stayed indoors.
This is the outdoors.
I’m here to enjoy nature.
…That said, I am keeping the ice pillar.
That’s just using your brain.
And using your brain is fair ga.
-0-
About thirty minutes passed like that—pure, lazy bliss—when a group of mountain elves appeared.
They were carrying sothing and headed straight in my direction.
So kind of experint, maybe?
I gently set the father cat down on the chair and walked over to the mountain elves.
-0-
A sail ship?
What the mountain elves were carrying was a model of a two-masted carrack.
It was quite large, around two ters in length.
The masts extending from the hull were also about the sa height.
They planned to test it in the reservoir, and if it floated well, they would bring it to the pool to show the children.
I see, testing it beforehand is important.
If the children saw it sink, they might beco afraid of ships.
Still, as big as it was, surely no one was going to ride on it, right?
If soone did, the top would be too heavy and it would capsize.
Were they just going to float it?
When I voiced my doubt, the mountain elves gave a mischievous grin.
Then appeared the fist-sized spiderlings.
No way… are they going to ride it and steer?
Oh, that sounds amazing!
I want to see that!
When I said so, the spiderlings responded with a confident leave-it-to-us and all at once put on pirate-like bandanas.
Red, white, blue, black, and green—it was quite the colorful sight.
Then they boarded the sail ship that the mountain elves had floated on the pond.
The spiderlings climbed the masts and spread the sails.
Oh!
…
………
Now that I think about it, there’s no wind.
Soone, get anyone who can use wind magic.
-0-
One of the mountain elves ran to the mansion and brought soone who could use wind magic… Loo.
「I’m actually pretty busy, you know」
Sorry about that.
「Well, just a bit of wind… how about this?」
When Loo used wind magic, the sail ship with the spiderlings aboard smoothly moved toward the center of the pond.
Then, as it neared the opposite shore, it made a U-turn.
Oh, even against the wind they skillfully adjusted the sails, tilting the ship left and right to return.
That’s impressive.
Hmm?
The ship looks… lower in the water than before… is it sinking?
Ah, the spiderlings aboard are panicking!
It’s taking on water!
We have to help them!
「Village chief, it’s alright!」
One of the mountain elves watching with gave a reassuring smile.
So that ans… is this so kind of setup?
The ship won’t sink?
「No, the flooding was unexpected. It will sink」
Hey!
「But don’t worry. Look!」
From the sinking ship, small boats were being lowered, and the spiderlings were boarding them to escape.
「We made sure to equip the ship with multiple small boats, enough for all the crew to board safely」
Oh!
They really thought through the safety asures!
Looking more closely, the spiderlings on the ship were also wearing what looked like life jackets.
-0-
Alright, everyone gather up.
Once you’re back on land, we do a roll call.
Is everyone accounted for?
No one got left behind on the sunken ship, right?
I saw it.
Soone tried to stay behind on the sinking ship.
The others had to drag it off.
Why did you try to stay?
Because you’re the captain?
Fool!
You must value your life.
You can always build another ship.
…
As long as you understand now, it’s fine.
Also, it’s a bit too early to be carrying such a heavy sense of responsibility.
This was your first experint, right?
You only decided who was captain right before boarding…
No, no. Taking responsibility is important, I agree.
-0-
The sunken ship was retrieved by the pond turtles.
The mountain elves are checking where the flooding occurred.
Finding the cause is important, but that ship sank way too fast after taking on water.
There were no compartnts inside, were there?
You’re supposed to divide the interior to contain the flooding.
They call those watertight bulkheads, I think.
Ah, just as I thought.
The interior only had ballast.
So they only copied the exterior.
Well, even that’s impressive.
It had a structure that allowed for proper sail control too.
Next ti, let’s go see the sail ships in the city of Shashaato.
Actually, I own a few sail ships myself.
They’re managed by the Goroun Company, so they don’t really feel like mine.
But seeing the real thing helps you understand how they’re designed and gives you sothing to learn from.
Yeah, let’s go soti.
-0-
I invited the mountain elves, and from her spot on the camping chair, Loo watched us while holding the father cat, Raigiel, in her arms.
……
Of course, Loo is coming with us too.
Yeah.
-0-
Event Staff「As a security asure, with their children—pardon , grandchildren in tow, dragons will be attending.」
Prada「We won’t cause any trouble. Absolutely not.」
Beton「…(Filling out a leave request)」
Bulga「Is there even a point to us being here?」
Stifano「Let’s just think of it as a vacation…」
-0-
Rananon「Bulga-san isn’t here…」(looking downcast)
Kukulkan「Stifano is gone too…」(looking downcast)
Bulga「This is no ti to be taking a break.」
Stifano「I’m coming back.」
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